Sarduri I ( hy, Սարդուրի Ա, ruled: 834 BC – 828 BC), also known as Sarduris, Sedur, and Asiduri, was
a king of
Urartu
Urartu (; Assyrian: ',Eberhard Schrader, ''The Cuneiform inscriptions and the Old Testament'' (1885), p. 65. Babylonian: ''Urashtu'', he, אֲרָרָט ''Ararat'') is a geographical region and Iron Age kingdom also known as the Kingdom of Va ...
in
Armenian Highlands. He was known as Ishtarduri to the Assyrians.
It is unclear whether Sarduri's father,
Lutipri
Lutipri was the father of the Urartian king Sarduri I.
Lutipri may have ruled Urartu between 844 and 834 BCE, in a period of obscurity after the destruction of the former capital Arzashkun by Shalmaneser III, and before Sarduri's foundation of ...
, was a king of Urartu. It is possible that Lutipri was not a king and that Sarduri established a new dynasty.
Sarduri I is most known for moving the capital of the
Urartu
Urartu (; Assyrian: ',Eberhard Schrader, ''The Cuneiform inscriptions and the Old Testament'' (1885), p. 65. Babylonian: ''Urashtu'', he, אֲרָרָט ''Ararat'') is a geographical region and Iron Age kingdom also known as the Kingdom of Va ...
kingdom to
Tushpa
Tushpa ( hy, Տոսպ ''Tosp'', Akkadian: ''Turuspa'', tr, Tuşpa; from Urartianbr>tur-, ''to destroy''i.e. victorious) was the 9th-century BC capital of Urartu, later becoming known as Van which is derived from ''Biainili'', the native name ...
(Van). This proved to be significant as Tushpa became the focal point of politics in the
Near East
The ''Near East''; he, המזרח הקרוב; arc, ܕܢܚܐ ܩܪܒ; fa, خاور نزدیک, Xāvar-e nazdik; tr, Yakın Doğu is a geographical term which roughly encompasses a transcontinental region in Western Asia, that was once the hist ...
. He was succeeded by his son,
Ishpuini of Urartu
Ishpuini (also Ishpuinis) () was king of Urartu. He succeeded his father, Sarduri I, who moved the capital to Tushpa (Van). Ishpuini conquered the Mannaean city of Musasir, which was then made the religious center of the empire. The main templ ...
, who then expanded the kingdom.
The title Sarduri used was '
King of the Four Quarters
King of the Four Corners of the World ( Sumerian: ''lugal-an-ub-da-limmu-ba'', Akkadian: ''šarru kibrat 'arbaim'', ''šar kibrāti arba'i'', or ''šar kibrāt erbetti''), alternatively translated as King of the Four Quarters of the World, King ...
'.
It has been suggested that the name Sarduri comes from ''Sardi dur'', meaning "given by Sardi." Sardi was the Urartian equivalent of
Ishtar
Inanna, also sux, 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒀭𒈾, nin-an-na, label=none is an ancient Mesopotamian goddess of love, war, and fertility. She is also associated with beauty, sex, divine justice, and political power. She was originally worshiped in S ...
, and the name Sarduri was written as "Ishtarduri" in Assyrian sources. The ''duri'' suffix would be a form of Armenian ''tur'' (տուր), meaning "given by," comparable to Greek ''dôron'' (δῶρον), meaning "gift."
[Armen Petrosyan. "On the ethnic origin of the ruling elite of Urartu." ''Archaeopress Archaeology''. 2019. p. 406.]
The name Sarduri has also been connected to the Armenian name ''Zardur'' ("star-given").
See also
*
List of kings of Urartu
This article lists the kings of Urartu (Ararat or Kingdom of Van), an Iron Age kingdom centered on Lake Van in eastern Asia Minor.
Early kings
*Arame (also Aramu, Arama) 858 BC–844 BC
*Lutipri 844 BC–834 BC (?)
Rise to power
*Sarduri ...
References
Urartian kings
9th-century BC rulers
Kings of the Universe
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